DIY paychecks: 'It's easy money,' deputies say

As the quality of computer printers goes up and their prices go down, deputies say the art of forging checks for quick cash is easier than ever.

"It's incredibly easy to do," said Sgt. David Groover, of the Palm Beach County Sheriff's office financial crimes division. "It's an easy way to make money."

Kenneth Willis, a 40-year-old Lake Worth man, recently landed in jail for cashing a few of those checks — worth about $1,600 in all — which he said were made in the bedroom of his jailbird friends, according to a Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office report.

Deputies caught on to Willis on Jan. 15, when the manager of One Stop Check Cashing in the 7000 block of South Military Trail in Boynton Beach called the cops.

In the month before the call, the manager told police a man by the name of Kenneth Willis had visited the store at least twice and cashed checks. The checks appeared to be legitimate, so the manager deposited them into his business account.

Then, the manager's phone rang. It was the bank with some startling news: the checks were fake.

Now on the hook for cash he gave Willis, the manager called police.

Detectives called Yachting Promotions Show Management — one of the companies listed on one of the checks — and asked if Willis had ever been an employee there.

He hadn't.

Detectives then called the other company listed on the one of the checks: B.E.S.M. Inc., a telemarketing firm in Fort Lauderdale.

Willis hadn't worked there, either.

But the company's president provided detectives with some interesting details: his bank had called him 10 times, notifying him about several other counterfeit checks.

Deputies say those checks had been cashed by a former employee Christopher Porter, 22, of Pompano Beach, who remains in the Palm Beach County Jail on burglary charges.

In a jailhouse interview with detectives, Porter admitted to cashing counterfeit checks and splitting the profits with his roommate, the report says. Porter told detectives he had worked with the roommate at B.E.S.M.

The roommate, whom the Sun Sentinel is not identifying because he has not been formally charged, used design software and an "off-white HP laser jet printer" to print checks in their living room, Porter said, according to the report.

Deputies say it's common for counterfeit check-makers to recruit others to cash the checks. It's easier to avoid arrest with a middleman, Groover said.

But charges against those who cash the checks are often hard to get through the State Attorney's Office, Groover added, because prosecutors have to prove the accused knew they were cashing counterfeit checks.

Confessions are ideal, Sgt. Groover said.

Deputies say that's what happened when they arrested Willis on Feb. 5 at his home on Strawberry Fields Way in Lake Worth.

In an interview with Willis, who now stands charged with fraud and using forged checks, deputies say he "eventually confessed to knowingly cashing both counterfeit checks."

Based on his decade-long career in the financial crimes unit, Sgt. Groover said it seems — though statistics are not available — check forgery is becoming more common.

Groover said there's a lesson to be learned in the stories of people who fall victim to counterfeit check makers.

"The message is to scrutinize any check that's given," Sgt. Groover said. "Take it to the bank and have them check it out."